The school year was drawing to a close, yet the air within Hogwarts Castle had not lightened because of it.
On the contrary, an invisible, heavy pressure grew thicker in everyone's hearts as the final exams concluded.
The trio of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, plus Lia the Cat who was constantly draped over Hermione, had almost turned the corner of the fireplace in the Gryffindor Common Room into their exclusive war room.
"I'm certain Snape wants to steal the Philosopher's Stone," Ron whispered, nervously biting his nails. "He's been targeting Harry all school year and even tried to kill him during the Quidditch match!"
Harry nodded with a heavy heart, his hand instinctively touching the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. Whenever Professor Quirrell drew near, that scar would sear with pain, but Snape's dark, malicious gaze made him feel a more direct threat.
"No, you're both wrong," Hermione's voice was calm and certain. As she absentmindedly stroked Lia's fur in her arms, she analyzed, "Have you forgotten the Cerberus? Hagrid let it slip; he said that besides himself and Dumbledore, he told one other person how to deal with Fluffy—using music."
Hermione paused, her gaze sweeping over her two friends. "During the Christmas holidays, at the Hogs Head Inn, he lost that secret to a hooded stranger. That stranger wants what Fluffy is guarding!"
"That person is Snape!" Harry said immediately.
"Not necessarily," Hermione shook her head. "But regardless of who it is, they know how to get past the first trial. Now that exams are over, there will be fewer and fewer people in the Castle. This is the best time to strike."
Lia shifted in Hermione's arms. She didn't understand the complex analysis, but she could clearly feel the tension coming from Hermione and the anxiety radiating from Harry and Ron. She uneasily hooked the tip of her tail around Hermione's wrist, the small bell on her neck letting out a soft 'ding-ling'.
Hermione patted her soothingly and continued, "We must go tell Dumbledore!"
However, fate always seemed to enjoy playing the cruelest jokes.
On the very afternoon they resolved to find the Principal, Professor McGonagall brought news that made everyone feel as though they had fallen into an ice cellar.
"Professor Dumbledore received an urgent letter from the Ministry of Magic an hour ago and rushed to London overnight," Professor McGonagall's expression was so stern it looked as if it could wring out water. "I'm afraid he won't be back until tomorrow."
A fake letter from the Ministry of Magic!
This thought struck the trio's minds like a bolt of lightning.
Tonight! That thief is going to move tonight!
As night fell, only the crackling of burning wood in the fireplace remained in the Gryffindor Common Room. The three friends and the cat sat together, the atmosphere heavy to the extreme.
"We have to go," Harry's voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally firm. "We can't let Snape succeed."
Ron took a deep breath and nodded heavily. "Right!"
Hermione's face looked a bit pale. She glanced at Lia, who had already started dozing in her arms, and felt a fierce struggle within. Below the trapdoor lay unknown dangers. She absolutely could not take Lia into such peril.
"Harry, Ron, you two go first," Hermione decided. "I have to settle Lia. she can't go."
She tried to lift Lia off her and place her on the soft sofa.
However, the moment her hands touched Lia, the previously drowsy Cat-girl snapped her eyes open like a startled cub.
"Meow?"
Lia the Cat sensed Hermione's intention to leave her behind. She instantly stretched and transformed into Lia, hugging Hermione tightly. Her limbs locked onto Hermione's arms and waist, her head burying forcefully into the crook of Hermione's neck, as if trying to embed her entire self into Hermione's body.
"Lia, be good, you'll only be safe if you stay here," Hermione's voice tightened with anxiety as she tried to pry Lia's arms away.
"No... don't..." A broken whimper came from Lia's throat. "Hermione... in danger."
Lia's body was trembling slightly. The moment Hermione decided to leave, her Danger Intuition began screaming frantically. At this moment, she couldn't listen to anything; her only thought was that she could not leave Hermione.
It was as if letting Hermione leave now meant never seeing her again.
The silver collar around her neck, engraved with 'Lia, Hermione's.', followed her trembling, causing the little bell to emit a series of rapid and panicked 'ding-ling-ling' sounds.
Hermione's movements stopped.
Looking at the shivering, mourning Lia in her arms, she couldn't find the heart to be cruel.
"Alright... alright, I'll take you with me," Hermione finally compromised. She sighed, but her voice became incredibly gentle. "But you must promise me, you have to stay in your cat form the whole time, and you cannot leave my side for a single moment."
"Mm!" Lia nodded immediately, though her arms didn't loosen their grip in the slightest.
Hermione shrugged helplessly at Harry and Ron.
The three friends and the cat, hidden under Harry's invisibility cloak, silently left the common room and crept toward the forbidden corridor on the fourth floor.
At the end of the corridor, the familiar door was locked tight.
"Alohomora," Hermione whispered the incantation, and the lock clicked open.
Behind the door, a deafening roar and the heavy stench of a wild beast rushed at them. Fluffy, the giant Cerberus, was lying on the trapdoor, its three heads turning alertly, saliva dripping from its fangs and sizzling into white smoke on the stone floor.
"Hagrid said... use music..." Ron swallowed nervously, his hand already reaching for his magic wand.
Just then, Lia in Hermione's arms suddenly moved.
She poked her small white cat head out from the crook of Hermione's arm, looking curiously at the massive creature. In her Danger Intuition, although this big guy looked fierce, it had no immediate intention to attack.
Lia jumped down from Hermione's arms and, under the terrified gazes of the three, walked with elegant cat steps straight toward the Cerberus.
"Lia! Come back!" Hermione cried out, but it was too late.
Fluffy's middle head spotted the tiny thing that didn't know the meaning of death. It lowered its head, its giant nostrils blowing two blasts of hot air at Lia.
Lia was blown back two steps, but she wasn't afraid.
She tilted her head, her deep blue eyes full of pure curiosity.
"Meow~"
A soft, questioning cry sounded particularly abrupt in the room filled with roars.
Fluffy's roar got stuck in its throat.
The middle head blinked, appearing somewhat confused. The left head leaned in and sniffed. The right head let out a low whimper.
Lia took two more steps forward, raised her front paw, and waved it at Fluffy.
"Meow-wu?"
This action seemed to flip some strange switch.
The alertness and brutality in Fluffy's six fierce eyes actually receded visibly. Its three massive heads bumped into each other and then collectively let out a yawn. The deafening yawn nearly took the roof off.
Then, before the dumbfounded stares of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, this legendary hell-hound actually moved its massive body aside, revealing the trapdoor beneath it, walked to a corner of the room, lay down, and fell asleep.
The three heads even emitted snores in three different pitches.
"It... it just went to sleep?" Ron stammered.
Hermione looked at Lia, who was proudly sweeping the floor with the tip of her tail. She scooped her into her arms and rubbed her little head, her feelings complex beyond words.
Harry was the first to snap out of it. He walked to the trapdoor and pulled the iron ring.
Below was a bottomless darkness.
"I'll go first!" Harry didn't hesitate; he took a deep breath and jumped down.
"We're going too!" Hermione held Lia tight, exchanged a look with Ron, and followed him into that unknown darkness.
The sensation of falling only lasted a few seconds.
They didn't land on hard ground but fell into something cold, damp, and exceptionally soft, like a giant plant mattress.
"What is this?" Ron struggled, trying to stand up.
Hermione's face turned deathly pale the moment she saw their surroundings.
"Don't move!" she screamed. "This is devils snare!"
Before she finished her sentence, the seemingly soft vines beneath them surged up like living vipers! Countless slimy tentacles lashed out, wrapping around their ankles, wrists, necks, and bodies!
"Ah!" Ron cried out in terror. The more he struggled, the tighter the vines coiled, nearly snapping his bones.
Harry was also pinned down, the vines already covering his mouth and nose, making it impossible to breathe.
Hermione forced herself to calm down. She remembered Professor Sprout's lesson: devils snare likes the dark and damp, and fears sunlight and fire most!
"Lumos!" She wanted to cast the spell, but her arms were bound so tightly by the vines that she couldn't even pull out her magic wand.
The feeling of suffocation grew stronger, and Hermione's consciousness began to blur.
At this critical juncture, a white flash streaked before her eyes!
The vines of the devils snare were an inescapable net for humans, but for a tiny, flexible cat, there were gaps everywhere!
Lia was incredibly agile among those deadly vines, like a fish weaving through water weeds. She could clearly feel that all the vines' energy came from a core below.
She followed the direction of the winding vines and dove down rapidly.
Soon, she found the thickest taproot, which was pulsating slightly like a heart!
Without a moment's hesitation!
A glint of wild ferocity flashed in Lia's eyes. She unsheathed her sharp cat claws, which had been tempered through a thousand trials and were capable of slicing through leather, and unleashed a frenzy of tearing and scratching at that taproot!
"Sreech—!"
The sound of tearing cloth rang out!
The taproot of the devils snare was instantly torn open with a deep gash, and dark green sap gushed out!
The entire patch of devils snare seemed to suffer an electric shock. All the vines let out a shrill shriek and convulsed violently! The strength coiling around Hermione and the others vanished instantly!
Now!
Hermione seized this fleeting opportunity. She finally pulled her arm free and pointed her wand downward!
"Lumos!"
A burst of brilliant light erupted from the tip of her wand, instantly illuminating the damp vines! The devils snare let out a cry like a wailing infant, and all the vines retreated frantically into the darkness as if seeing their natural enemy.
A few seconds later, silence returned to the surroundings.
Harry and Ron collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath.
Hermione was also shaken. She looked down to see Lia squatting at her feet, sticking out her pink tongue to carefully lick the claws she had just used to attack, as if she had only done a trivial little task.
Hermione leaned over and pulled the little hero into a tight hug, then turned to look at the dark stone passage that was the only way forward.
First trial, passed.